My "Testimony" in Church Yesterday

I was the first of five members of our congregation to present a"testimony,"  as it was called in the bulletin, during the next five weeks of Eastertide.   Maybe it was a testimony of sorts to the power of hymn singing.  John Haas led the congregational prayer later in the service and asked that our praise be turned into joy and then into peace and then into contentment and lastly into courage.  I have a ways to go in that goal!  The parts in parentheses were not in my written script but added later. 

When Chris suggested the idea of presenting favorite hymns to the congregation, I thought it was a great idea because I love singing in church and especially in this church.   

As a congregation, we sing very well.   I’ve told many of you that my favorite part of playing the organ is not playing at all and listening to you sing acapella.  On Holy Saturday we were a small group and I wasn’t sure I dared drop out, but we were mighty thanks to the leadership of Ali, Hannah, Bruce and David and we sang Beautiful Savior without accompaniment like a heavenly chorus.

Singing hymns in church  is a unique experience. When else do we sing with others?  (Jim did remind me that we sing the National Anthem and then there is the Cubbies’ 7th inning stretch!) A good friend from my teaching years worshiped with me a few years ago and her comment afterwards was that singing next to someone is an intimate experience.  We are one body and we join our voices together in confession, lament and praise.

I wish my faith were stronger and my doubts were weaker.  But when I sing “In Christ alone my hope is found” or “O Sacred head now wounded...let me never, never outlive my love for thee.”  the music and the words find their way into my soul and I believe with my head and my heart.(Mike Rea talked about the hiddenness of God in church school this morning.  This is when God is less hidden for me.)

Now a few words about the hymn I picked.  “Fill Thou My Life oh Lord my God."

You sang this lively tune two weeks ago on Palm Sunday with the words “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna the little children sang”.  (I will be a music nerd here.) Any hymn with a Common Meter which is counting syllables 8686 can be sung with this tune--including Amazing Grace--I tried it when I was thinking about this.  Admittedly, it sounded pretty strange.

These words were written by Horace Bonar, a pastor in the Free Church of Scotland in the 19th century.  He and his wife lost five of their children and in his later years, his widowed daughter moved in with him with her five children.  He did not have an easy life yet he wrote this cheerful hymn of praise.

I love the idea of one’s whole being filled with praise "not for the lip of praise alone nor e’en the praising heart."   I especially love the phrase because as some of you know I am a fretter--"So shall each fear, each fret, each care be turned into a song."  I wish I could live up to that line. (I fretted even last night about making this presentation.)

I’ve told Jim that I want this song sung at my funeral someday.   He may or may not remember. But in any case, right now I have the joy of listening to you sing this hymn of praise and I thank you for that privilege.